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If you were wondering what took place this day, August 6th, in Yankee history, you’ve come to the right place. Below is an excerpt from Lew Freedman’s book, Bronx Bombers: New York Yankees Home Run History, and we wanted to share with you what happened this day in Yankee history.

Bronx Bomber will not only cover the great hitters and their hitting careers, it will also cover many of the iconic home runs.

There’s nothing like hitting it big in New York, the media capital of the world, and Babe Ruth discovered a way to hit it big that was brand new – by hitting a baseball in a bigger way than anyone else ever had. Ruth showed up at Yankee Stadium, hit home runs, and in an era before baseball teams played night games, he partied the night away. In a famous comment, when newspapermen probed Ruth’s roommate Ping Bodie to ask what the big man was like, Bodie replied, “I don’t know anything about him. I don’t room with him. I room with his suitcase.”

Ruth actually began the 1920 season slowly because of a pulled muscle. But then he blasted 11 home runs in May. Up until shortly before that figure would have been sufficient to lead the league for a season. That was the most any player had ever hit in a month. Of course, in June Ruth hit 13 to break his 30-day-old record.

The Babe passed 30 home runs – breaking his one-year-old record of 29 – on July 19. In the second game of a double-header against the Chicago White Sox, Ruth went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two homers, leaving him at 31 at the end of the day.

Ruth passed 40 home runs in the same manner on August 6. He ripped two homers in an 11-7 victory over the Detroit Tigers, leaving him at 41 upon completion of that game. Ruth notched his historic 50th home run on September 24 against the Washington Senators at the Polo Grounds. However, it came in a loss as the slumping Yankees played themselves out of the pennant race. It was the first game of a double-header which Washington won, 3-1. The pitcher was Jose Acosta, who in a rarity for the time, was from Cuba. The right-hander pitched parts of three seasons in the majors and finished 10-10.

Excerpted from Bronx Bombers: New York Yankees Home Run History by Lew Freedman published by Blue River Press and distributed by Cardinal Publishers Group. For more of Yankee home run history, pick up your copy of Bronx Bomber today.

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